Elemental Etymology: What's in a Name? Davld W. Ball Rice University, Houston, TX 77251
Like a i v discinline of science. chemistrv has its own nomenclatuie, or system of naming. aster^ bf this nomenclature is essential for the survival of anv chemistrv student. Initially, students may be scared witless by the seemingly complex organic and inorganic names. Soon, though, they are rattling off polysyllabic words with the ease of an expert. The names of the elements provide the root of chemical naming, from simple salts to coordination compounds, from acids and bases to complicated organic species. While chemistry students use the names of the elements t o name compounds, many of them have no idea of how the elements themselues got their names. For example, many students perceive the connection between the name "hydrogen" and the prefix "hydro-," meaning "water," hut most are ignorant of the meanings behind other element names. Study of element names can he used as an important tool for recognizing certain properties of particular elements, and the origins themselves can make excellent mnemonic devices in rememhering an element's properties, symbol, and uses. Let us, then, take a close look a t the origin of the names, or etvmolopies, . of the chemical elements. Mwt of the available etvmoloaical information can be ohtained from a dictionary or a chemical handbook, but neither points out the fact that there aremany similarities and trends among the names. For example, many people immediately notice that a few elements are named after famous scientists. What they may not realize, however, is that a few elements are named after prominent mythological figures, too. To illustrate these patterns better (and to increase the pedagogical value of this paper), I have grouped the elements in six categories accord&to the origins oftheir names.' It is generally accepted by scientists that the discoverer of an element has the honor of naming it. However, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) reserves the rieht to select an annroved name. as well as an approved symGol, regardless o i the priority of discovery. he onlv IUPAC rule eovernine the namine nrocess is the inclusion of the -ium suffix in the name of any new metallic element.2 However, because many elements were discovered before the existence of this rule, many elements (nonmetals as well as metals) do not have this suffix. Tahle 1 lists elements of ancient or even prehistoric discovery and whose names are of obscure origins. These seven elements, six of them metals, have been known and used by mankind for thousands of years; a few of these names are among the oldest words in any language. Unlike some of the other groups of elements, these ancient names follow no standard form and have no common or distinguishing syllables. Table 2 lists elements that are named hecause of the color of the element or its compounds and properties. For example, ~
~
since the salts of iridium are of various colors, it seems appropriate that the element name is derived from a word meaning "rainbow." Chlorine and iodine are named for their resnective colors. whereas rubidium. a silverv-white metal, is named for the intense ruby line in its atomic spectrum. The other elements listed here have similar etvmologies. Tahle 3 gives the elements that are named after real or imaginary personages. About half of these elements are named after famed scientists; the other half are named after various Table 1.
Element
Origin'
GoM
Sanskrit. Jval; Ang.-Sax., gold; ME, guld Ang.-Sax.. iron: ME. ire" Ang.-Sax.. lead; ME, teed Ang.-Sax.. seolfor, syller Sanskrit.. sulvere: ME, sulphre Ang.-Sax.. tin; ME, tin Ang.-Sax., zinc
Iron Lead Silver Sulfur Tin zinc
~~
Key to all tables: Ang.-Sax. = Anglo-Saxon. Eng. = English. Ger. = Oerman. Graek. L. = Latin. ME = Midjle English. Sp. = Spanish. Swed. = Swedish.
Table 2.
.
of ~her;;isbyand physics,:' 60th id., CRC R e i s , lnd.., Boca Raton, FL. pp. 83.627; (b) McKechnie. Jean L.. (Editor). ' Weoster's New Lnlversal Unabr~dgedDlctonary,' 2nd ed., S m o n and Schuster. New York. 1983. IUPAC's "Definitive Rules For Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry." as published in J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 83, 5523 (1960).
Origin
Ger.. welsse Mssse, white mass
Blsmuih Cesium Chlorlnb Chromium Indium Iodine Iridium PraesDdymlum Rubidium Zirconium
Table 3.
Promethium Tamalum Thwium Tiinlum Vanadium
L., caesius, sky blue Gr.. chlwos, greenish yellow Gr.. chroma, color the color indigo Gr., iodes, violet L., iris. ralnbow Gr.. prasios+ didymos, green twin L.. rubidos, deepest red Arabic, rargun, gold color
Elements Named after People (Real or Mythtcal)
Element Curium Einsteinium Fermium GBdolinium Lawrencium Mendelevlum Nlobium
*.=
Elements Named tor C o l o n
Element
Nobelium
' Oriains taken from: la) Weast. Robert C.. IEditorl. "CRC Handbook
Elements with Names of Obscure Orlaln
Orlgln Pierre and Marie Curie. discoverers of radioactivity Albert Einstein, wiginator of the mewies of relativity Enrico Fermi, discoverer of nuclear reactions Johann Gadolin, a Finnish chemist who discovered yhrium Ernest 0.Lawrence, developer of the cyclotron Dminl Mendeleev, developer of the pericdic chart Niobe, an evil and blasphemous daugMer 61Tantalos (we below) Alfred Nobel, founder of me Nobel Prizes and Inventor of . dynamile Piornetheus, the Greek god who gave mankind fire Tantalos, the Greek mythical figure banished to a tantalizing fate in Hades Thor, me Norse gad of thunder the Titans, Greek gods Vanadls, a "Wise Woman" in Scandinavian mythology
Volume 62
Number 9
September 1985
787
Table 4. Elements Named after Places Element Americium
Table 5. Elements Named after Heavenly Bodles
Origln
Element
the Americas
Berkelium
Berkeley, California
Californium
California
COPP Erbium
L., Cuprum. from the island of Cyprus
Eumpium
Europe
Francium
France
Ytterby, a town in Sweden
Gallium
L.. Oallia. France
Germanium
Germany
Hafnium
L.. Hamia. Copenhagen
HOlmium
L.. Mlmia, Stackholm
Lutetium
Lutetia, an ancient name for Paris
Magnesium
Magnesia, a district in Thessaly
Polonium
Poland
Rhenium
L., Rhenus, lhe Rhine
RYthenium
L., Ruthenis. Russia
Scandium
L., Scan&. Scandinavia
Strontium
Strantian, a town in Scotland
Plutonium Selenium Tellurium Uranium
Table 6. Elements Havlng Names of Mlrcellaneous Orlgln Element
Terbium
Ytterby, a town In Sweden
Thulium
Thule. an early mme tor Scandinavia
Ynerbium
Ynerby. a town in Sweden
Ynrium
Ynerby, a town in Sweden
mythological figures3 I t should also be pointed out that the proposed names for elements 104 and 105 are derived from people. The name kurchatovium (after Russian scirntisr Tgor V. Kurchatov! has been nrowosed hv Russian workers for element 104, while the names rutherfordium (after scientist Ernest Rutherford) and hahnium (after German scientist Otto Hahn) have been proposed by American workers for elements 104 and 105, respectively. Note that all elements discovered since 1952 (beginning with einsteinium, element 99) have been named after people. 'I'ahle 1 lists elements whose names are derived from some geographic location. At least five countries are revresented. one of them twice (gallium comes from Gallia, the Latin namd for France). A total of four elements are named after Ytterhy, a small Swedish town about 10 mi north of Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city.4 There is a quarry in Ytterhy where many unusual minerals were found, and from these minerals yttrium, erhium, terbium, and ytterbium were discovered. Ytterhy has the distinction of being the most used root in the naming of the elements. Table 5 lists elements that are named after various heavenly bodies. I t seems that objects in the sky had a hig influence on the naming of a new element. The sun, moon, two asteroids, and six planets (including the earth) lend their names to elements. For example, although the Greek word ohosohoros means "light-beahng," it is aiso a name applied tb the.planet Venus under certain conditions. Helium was discovered spectroscopically in the solar atmosphere before it was discovered on earth, and the name helium reflects that discovery. Few people exposed to chemistry fail to recognize the element sequence uranium-neptunium-plutoniumand its connection with local astronomy. Finally, there are elements that do not fit into the above categories, being named for various other reasons. These elements are listed in Table 6. Included in this group are three elements named after other elements: radon (from radium), molybdenum (from molybdos, a Greek word for lead), and ~
~
~~
~
~~~
~
Mythological information from Hamilton. Edilh. ktymo~ogy,"New American Library. Boston, MA, 1961. 'Muirhead. L. Russell. Sweden." Carnest Bend Ltd.. London. 1952. p. 17.
788
Journal of Chemical Education
Orlgln the asteroid Ceres Gr.. helios, the sun m% planet Mercury the planet NepNne m% astwoid Pallas OI.. phosphoros. light-bearing: a name applied to lhe Planet Venus when appearing as a mwning star the planet Pluto Gr., Selene. moon L., tellus, the earth lhe la net Uranus
Cerium Helium Mercury NepNnlum Palladium Phosphoru~
-
Aninium Aluminum Antimony Argon Arsenic Astatine Barium Beryllium Bromine Cadmium Calcium Carbon Cobalt Dysprosium Fluorine Hydra*" Krypton Lanthanum Lithium Manganese Molybdenum Necdymium Neon Nickel Nitrogen Osmium
Oxygen Platinum Potassium Protactinium Radium Radon Rhcdium Samarium Silicon Sodium Technetium Tungsten Xenon
Origin
Gr.. aktinos, beam or ray L.. alumen, alum (anastringent) Or.. anti+ monos. not alone, not one Gr., a r p . inactive OI.. arsenikos, male or masculine Gr.. astatos. unstable Gr., barys, heavy Gr.. beryl, beryl (a gem) Or.. bromos. stanch L., cadmia, calamine (a zinc we) L.. cal% line (calclum oxide) L.. carbo. coal or charcoal Ger.. kobafd, evil spirit or goblin Gr., dysprositos, hard to get at L., fl"e,e, to flow Gr., hydras+ genes. water-forming Gr.. krypms, hidden Gr.. Dnthanein, to lie hidden '3..lithO5. stone L., magnes, magnet Gr.. moibvdos, lead Gr., neo+ didymos, new twin Gr., new, new Ger.. kupfernickel, niccolate (a mineral) L., nitriwn;Gr., nitro", native soda Gr.. om.% me11 or Odor Q.. o m genes, acid-formink Sp., pfatina, silver Eng.. potash (a potassium salt) Gr.. protos, first. actinium (see above) L., radius, ray from radium (see above) Q.. rhcdios, roselike Eng.. samarskite. (a mineral) L.. silex, flint Eng.. soda Gr.. technitos. anificial Swed.. tung+ sten, heavy stone Gr.. xenon. Stranw
+
+
platinum (from platina, a Spanish word for silver). Unlike some other categories,a majority of these elements have Greek and Latin roots. Also unlike other groups, many of these elements do not have the common -ium ending. I t is worth pointing out that the element oxygen has an erroneous name. Lavoisier, the person who named oxygen, thought that it was essential in making acids, so he gave the element a name that means "acid producer." Oxygen is not essential in acids, but the name stays anyway. A quick scan of the element names shows a few naming. trends that make excellent mnemonic devices for students. For example, only the halogens have names ending with - h e . Similarly, all diatomic gases have names ending with -ine or -gen; no other element has those endings, and all elements with those endings are diatomic gases. With the exception of helium, all the noble gases end with -on: however. not allelements with names ending with -on are noble gaae* (e.g., carbon). These examples are c.asily nored, and exhibit the worth of studying the names of the elements and their origins.
-
